Building Stronger Bones

Today I would like to share some information I have to building and maintaining stronger bones not just for our children but us parents too!

Everyday our body builds bones (with osteoblasts) or “chews” them (with osteoclasts) based on the needs of our body. Our bones are made of a ton of minerals (mainly calcium) and collagen! They act as a bank for the rest of our body’s mineral needs. Calcium serves many functions through the body, but there must be a small yet consistent amount in the blood stream at all times. If calcium levels get to low (even from an extreme workout or from eating a lot of acid-forming animal products), the body will pull calcium from our bones to replenish the blood. From a holistic perspective our primary goals for strengthening bone health are to provide nutrients that encourage bone building and to decrease the factors that encourage bone loss.

The three most crucial components needed to building bone are:

- Wight bearing exercise

- Calcium

- Vitamin D

What important here is you need all three of these together. When you partake in any weight bearing exercise it signals the body build more bone for the perceived demands. The body uses calcium to fortify bones, and it needs vitamin d to absorb calcium. If any of these components are missing, you’re likely to get less results.

Weight-bearing Exercises

This can be as simple as hiking, walking, running, yoga, sports and lifting weights are all great!

Calcium & Vitamin D

Expert Recommendations for Calcium

• Kids 1 to 3 years old need 700 mg of calcium a day (2–3 servings).

• Kids 4 to 8 years old need 1,000 mg of calcium a day (2–3 servings).

• Kids and teens 9 to 18 years old need 1,300 mg of calcium a day (4 servings).

• Adults 1,000 to 2,000 mg of calcium a day.

We get calcium from foods we eat and dietary supplements we take. However, we only absorb about 30 percent of the calcium in the foods we eat, and calcium-rich foods often contain other compounds that challenge calcium absorption and bone mineralization. Be sure to obtain adequate amounts of vitamin D which will improve the calcium absorption in the gut as well as the body’s ability to use calcium to build bone.

Expert Recommendation for Vitamin D

• Babies younger than 1 year old need 400 IU of vitamin D a day. Baby formula has 400 IU per liter, so babies who drink at least 32 ounces of formula each day get enough. If your baby drinks only breast milk or gets less than 32 ounces of formula each day, ask your health care provider about giving your baby a vitamin D supplement.

• Kids older than 1 year need 600 IU or more of vitamin D a day. Health care providers often want healthy kids to take 600 to 1,000 IU daily.

Herbs for Strong Bones

With the exception of phytoestrogens, very little research has been conducted on herbs and their ability to improve bone density. Yet most of our nutrient-rich herbs contain high doses of bone-building minerals, including calcium magnesium, and silica. They’re incredibly easy to absorb and essentially free from any of the anti-nutrients that challenge many of our other calcium rich plant foods. They improve digestion while encouraging alkalinity in the rest of the body. This means that calcium you eat will be better absorbs and less likely to be pulled from our bones. There are a few special herbs that actually provide phytoestrogen compounds that discourage bone loss!

Some favorite herbs that I personally use are:

Nettle: one of the most bioavailable and calcium dense foods out there. This plant contains supportive magnesium, potassium, and iron. You can get the most out of nettle by doing a super infusion, long simmered broth, pureed soup, or as a pesto.

Oat Straw: a mild flavor for good levels of calcium, magnesium, and silica with three to four times more mineral density compared to oatmeal. This is great in an infusion, a tea or even added to a soup/broth.

Red Clover: my personal favorite that I always have on hand. These little blossoms contain phytoestrogens that discourage osteoclasts from “chewing” away at your bones. Add the dried blossoms to your super infusions. They taste nice and will also offer calcium and other minerals.

The takeaway? To have a balanced diet and weight-bearing exercise routine in place. If we start our children now, we’re setting them up for an easy road ahead! I will personally be more consistent this coming year with my bone health. With all that I have been through in 2022 (degenerative bone loss and arthritis) my goal is to care more for my bones and health by using my herbal remedies.

Happy Healing

Kelly